Aftershock stars: Auburn Symphony musicians back up Danny Elfman at Sacramento rock festival

In the immediate aftermath of the 14th annual Aftershock Festival in Sacramento, reel after reel continued to appear on social media while stages and fencing were being dismantled at Discovery Park. Several of those reels captured Danny Elfman on the main "Aftershock" stage. Scheduled in a primo time slot as the setting sun began to cool the dusty air Sunday, the four-day festival's final day, Elfman blew through 19 songs from his wild and crazy – and acclaimed – library during a 75-minute set. Elfman commanded center stage with his band on either side. Behind him were a choir and a group of musicians who added "symphony" to Aftershock's description as the "West Coast's largest punk, rock & metal festival" – including five from the Auburn Symphony. "There was a moment, because you're focused on the performance, but you're surrounded by this crazy energy, and it was almost angelic to look into the sun and the clouds," said Laura Ritchie, the Auburn Symphony's executive director who played viola behind Elfman. "It was still just like one of the most unique and amazing … it was just amazing, let alone people who are crowd surfing to 'Beetlejuice.' It was just beautiful to see the crowd's energy, to see Danny and his crew. It's laser focus but man, it was so cool." Also contracted to accompany Elfman were Auburn Symphony Concertmaster Chase Spruill, principal second violin Paolo Reyes, cellist William Masters and French horn player Angel Mejia. Ritchie proudly noted the Auburn Symphony was represented in each section of strings on stage. "It was a hang," she said with a laugh. One reel, posted on Facebook by ALT 94.7, shows the shirtless, tattooed Elfman facing Spruill as the symphony rips through the title theme from "The Simpsons," which was sandwiched between "Kick Me," an Elfman song, and "Only A Lad" from Elfman's MTV-era new-wave band Oingo Boingo. After receiving the music charts, the symphony five had about 2½ weeks to learn all 19 songs, according to Ritchie, from "Monkeys on the Loose" and "Happy" to the title themes from "Spider-Man," "Beetlejuice" and "Batman/Batman Returns." "You've probably guessed by now that nothing we do up here is gonna make any f****** sense whatsoever," Elfman told the cheering crowd shortly into the set. "It's gonna be a mash of s*** of the last 40 years, but you have an idea of what goes on inside my twisted f****** brain." Spruill teaches music from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. each day, then teaches at Sacramento State from 4-6 p.m. He rehearses with the Auburn Symphony from 7-9:30 p.m. The Auburn Symphony's concertmaster describes Elfman's music as "a challenge and a half." "It's as unexpected and zany as it sounds, but the technical challenges are really a feat. He writes some DIFFICULT stuff!" Spruill said in a Monday text to the Auburn Journal, ending with a laugh emoji. Reyes was called on to sub in the band, the lucky guy. Speaking to the Auburn Journal on Monday as students were entering his classroom at Jesuit High School – he teaches strings and after-school symphony – Reyes said he received the music a week before the gig, "and I just practiced as much as I could. It is relentless." Aftershock draws an estimated 40,000 metal heads each day, filling massive Discovery Park on both sides of Interstate 5 as the day wears on. By late afternoon, most of those 40,000 have arrived. The crowd at the main stage was a sea of humanity for Elfman as far as the eyes could see through dust and a haze of other various smoky fragrances. "When I walk out on the stage, with a crowd that size, it was a lot to process," Reyes said. "There were so many people out in the crowd that I couldn't really in the moment be nervous about it. The show starts, and everyone goes crazy. When (Elfman) starts singing 'This Is Halloween' and the crowd really gets into it, you just kind of feed into the energy." Ritchie said she could hear her cousins in the crowd chanting her name, "Then strangers started chanting," she said. The musicians had access to the artists' compound. Ritchie met singer/guitarist Chad Ginsburg and drummer Jess Margera of CKY, the first of 35 bands scheduled to perform Sunday and 140 total. "They're all just hanging and getting their food," she said of the musicians. With time to spare before performing (and a free day pass), Ritchie walked the festival grounds and enjoyed the Aftershock experience. She liked Filter and heavy metal/hip-hop band Ladrones of Mexico. "It was cool to see the crowd," she said. "I grew up in the age of burning CDs. It felt like a giant CD mix tape and going for a ride, and it was awesome."